RESOURCES FOR SPIRITUAL CARE PROVIDERS FOLLOWING
Ministers, when called upon to do so, have a responsibility to witness and name these sorrow-filled life transitions, while somehow pointing to our hope in God.
About the Book
Loss experienced at the beginning of life has been shrouded in silence for too long. Infertility and miscarriage, stillbirth and early infant loss, abortion and adoption, childlessness, and pregnancy after loss have been lonely journeys for many families. Ministers, pastors, chaplains, deacons, and spiritual caregivers—when called upon to do so—have the privilege of naming these losses in the presence of God and pointing to the hope found in God. This handbook serves as a guide for ministers and spiritual caregivers. It contains prayers and service outlines to help gently break the silence around the death of a baby or the loss of a hoped-for child. It also provides resources and practical suggestions for how to care for those suffering a reproductive loss. |
Recommended Links & Resources
- Still Standing Magazine: Living, breathing and embracing the impossible (includes comprehensive resource list)
- Fertility Matters
- Give in Kind
- Mothering Your Heart
- Glow in the Woods: For babylost mothers and fathers
- Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Remembrance photography
- Pregnancy and Infant Loss Network (Ontario)
- The Compassionate Friends: Providing grief support after the death of a child
- MISS Foundation: A community of compassion and hope for grieving families
- Parents Orphelins
- Miscarriage Support
- Return to Zero: H.O.P.E.
- Baby's Breath Canada
Articles
- 6 Tips for Talking With Parents Who Have Lost a Child
- What Can You Say (or Do) When Someone You Know is Struggling with Infertility
- 6 Things Never to Say to a Bereaved Parent
- How to Talk to Kids About Pregnancy & Infant Loss
- A Letter to My Daughter On Her First Easter in Heaven
- What to Expect When Preparing to Deliver a Stillborn Baby
- How to Support Someone Who is Grieving Their Child
- Self-Care Kit - Love & Loss Project
- Pregnancy Loss: What to Expect in Visiting Someone No Longer Expecting
- After the loss of a baby
- How I Honor My "Should-Have-Been" Babies
Books
- Companioning at a Time of Perinatal Loss: A guide for nurses, physicians, social workers, chaplains and other bedside caregivers by Jane Heustis, RN & Marcia Jenkins, RN (very practical guide)
- Hope Deferred: Heart-healing reflections on reproductive loss edited by Nadine Pence Frantz & Mary T. Stimming (solid theological reflection)
- Naming the Child: Hope-filled reflections on miscarriage, stillbirth, and infant death by Jenny Schroedel
- Confessions of a Funeral Director: How the business of death saved my life by Caleb Wilde (particularly Chapter 16: Yin and Yang)
- Bittersweet...hello goodbye: A resource in planning farewell rituals when a baby dies by Sister Mary Jane Lamb
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